Melodeon



Inventor'.

D l oooooooooooaooooo W m Nrm .0.

Witnesses:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STANLEY A. JEWETT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MELODEON.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,399, dated October 13, 1857; Ressued April 19, 1864, No. 1,653.

To all fr0/0m t may concern.'

Be itknown that I, STANLEY A. JEwET'r, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Melodeons; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and complete description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists 1st, in graduating the quantity of space contained in the air chambers, above and below each particular` reed, upon a geometrical scale, by which a uniformity of volume of sound is produced, compared with the particular key or reed; 2nd, in producing a perfect imite, whereby any one of two or more sets of reeds may be used by one valve; and 8rd, in the arrangement of devices by which the swell valve is operated by the bellows, without the intervention of a pedal, producing a gradual swell and diminuendo, the same being under the most perfect control of the musician.

Figure 1, is a perspective view of a key board, reeds and bellows. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, showing the mute. Fig. 3, is a vertical section. Fig. 4, is a section showing the air chambers, above and below the reeds, drawn upon a geometrical scale. Fig. 5, shows the horizontal depth of these chambers. Fig. 6 is a section, showing the manner of operating the mute, Fig. 7, shows the arrangement for operating the swell valve, and Fig. 8, shows another view of the same.

Like letters refer to like parts.

In Figs. 1 and 3, A represents the keys. B and B represent the bellows, and C, the reeds. The spaces c, c, c, &c., are seats for those reeds not represented in the drawing. In Fig. 4, the empty reed seats, are also represented by c, c, c, &c. These are all placed exactly upon a horizontal line. The spaces above and below, represent the air chambers. In Fig. 3, the reed is represented in place at C. In the usual mode of construction, the reed board is divided into three sect-ions, the air chambers e, above and below the reeds in each of these being the same, that is, all the spaces in each particular division are alike, the change from one division to another being sudden.

In my improved mode of construction, I

will assume that for the lowest note in the scale, the air chamber above the reed should be one inch in depth, and a corresponding amount of space below, or between the reed and valve D, Figs. 3 and 4. The next reed in the ascending scale, should have the air chambers a trifle less, and it has been determined by experiment, that the line bounding these air chambers, should be constructed upon a true geometrical scale, approaching the line upon which the reeds are placed, in a constantly decreasing ratio, as is shown at one view in the scale E, F, Fig. 4. The necessity for making the chambers upon a scale as indicated above, is apparent when it is considered that the lowest notes require a greater amount of air in which to vibrate, than the higher notes; that should a reed or note in alto, be placed in a chamber of suitable size for a note in bass, a full and oorrect tone could not be obtained, and vice versa; and the nearer we approach to this geometrical scale, the more perfectwill be the tone. But it is not necessary or essential that this scale should be governed wholly by the depth above and below the reeds; a horizontal depth should also be included.J as is indicated by the line Gr, II, in Fig. 5. It is the quantity of space that is required, but this should be so arranged as to present the smallest practicable amount of inner wall surface to the chambers.

The reeds are operated by exhausting the air from the bellows B, by expanding upward the bellows B', the air from B, passing into B, through the valve I, Fig. 3. By contracting B, the air escapes at the valve J. The bellows B, are forcibly expanded by the steel spring K, and thus a current of air is forced to pass through the reeds C, upon opening the valve D, by pressure upon the key A, the air passing in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 8.

I will now proceed to describe the manner of forming a perfect mute. The object of forming this mute, is, that where an instrument is constructed with two or more sets of reeds, any one or more sets may be used alone by one valve. In the ordinary mode of constructing instruments, these mutes are produced by a valve L, that fits the opening into the chamber e, Figs. 2, 3 and 6. Owing to the imperfection of mechanical structures, these mute valves cannot be made sufficiently tight to prevent entirely the passage of air, consequently, when the mute valve is closed, a small quantity of air will escape through the lips of the valve, and pass through the reeds, causing them to vibrate, producing an indistinct humming sound. My method of producing a perfect mute, is as follows: I perforate the back part of the air chamber e, with small holes m, Fig. 3. The upper end of these holes are seen at m, Fig. 2, and communicate with similar holes in the sliding valve or stop M, Figs. 4, 2 and 3. In Fig. 2, it is represented as being moved out of its proper place, for the purpose of showing the holes m, at the point where they intersect the holes in the slide valve M. The hole that passes through the slide valve M, is shown at N, Fig. 3, and also in longitudinal section in Fig. 4. This hole that extends into this slide valve, connects with a hole O, that leads into the air chamber that is situated below the reed C. The sliding valve INI, and the mute valve L, are both operated by the stop P, Figs. 2 and 6. When this stop is drawn out, the inclined plane Q Fig. 6, depresses the short end of the lever R, and this elevates the long arm o-f the lever R, and opens the valve L; at the same time, the sliding valve M, is moved by the lever represented by the dotted lines at S, Figs. 2 and 3; so that the holes m, N, O, do not come in contact, or in other words, the communication from the chamber above the reed, with that below is cut of. When it is desired to mut-e this set of reeds, the stop P, is shoved in; this allows the valve L, to close by means of a coiled spring which holds it in place, and at the same time, it moves the slide valve M, so that a free communication is established through the holes m, N, O. Now, in performing upon the instrument, when one or more sets of reeds are muted, the tendency is for air to pass the lips of the valve L, and were there no other passage, it must pass through the reeds, producing the humming sound before referred to; but the holes m, N, O, alfording a free passage for the air, it passes from above the reed to the chamber below without acting upon the tongue of the reed; and consequently a perfect mute is produced by closing the valve L, and opening the communication bet-Ween the upper and lower chambers by means of the holes m, N. O.

The swell in my improved melodeon, is produced by acting upon the swell valve by means of the upward pressure of the bottom board Zi, of the bellows B. In Figs. 7 and 8, the several parts of this device are represented. T, is the swell valve, seen also at T,

Fig. 3. This valve is held in place by the coiled spring t.

A rod U, Figs. 7 and S, supports the valve T, by a pin projecting from the end thereof. This rod U, is attached to the horizontal lever V, Fig. 7. The lever V is operated by a cam lever WV, the lower end of which rests upon a projection H, upon the bottom board b, of the bellows B. When the bellows are extended as seen at Zi, b, Figs. 1, 3 and 7, the projection H is not in contact with the cam lever W, consequently the arm V, is pushed downward by the valve T, which is kept closed by the coiled spring t. Now by exhausting the bellows B, as before described, the bottom board b, is raised to the project-ion H comes in contact with the cam lever IV, and the swell valve is opened gradually, but a little at first, but increasing with the strength of the current of air, forced through the reeds; fr the more perfect the exhaustion of the bellows B, the stronger is the current of air, and consequently the stronger is the tone produced. It will be observed, that this swell increases, with the increase of force applied to the instrument, and diminishes in the same manner, making a perfect swell and diminuendo, and this too, without the intervention of a separate pedal. In this way, two pedals may be used, (one by each foot,) to inflate the bellows, giving double power to the instrument. An arrangement of this character is necessary in the large sized instruments, becauseone pedal is not suiicient to properly exhaust (or inflate) the bellows. If it is desirable to let the swell valve remain closed during the performance of a part, or the whole of a piece, it can be done by throwing the cam lever IV, back to the position indicated by the dotted lines by means of the stop Y, when the swell valve T, will remain closed.

What I claim as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The production of a perfect mute, by combining the action of the air passages m, N, O, or their equivalents, with the mute valve L, as herein set fort-h.

2. In the format-ion of a gradually increasing swell, and a like decreasing diminuendo, by means of operating the swell valve T, by the rising and falling of the bottom board of the bellows or its equivalent, as herein specified.

STANLEY A. JEVVETT.

Witnesses:

Gr. E. Hmuuox, JEHU BRAINERD.

[FIRST PRINTED 1912.] 

